Fishing spearguns have not changed dramatically over the last century in that they continue to employ spearpoint shafts that are biased into a trigger release mechanism by a plurality of rubber bands, and a string line for retrieving the spearpoint and shaft after firing.
Of course, modern manufacturing techniques have made improvements which have affected somewhat the appearance of the speargun, its safety and ease of cocking and trigger pull. For example, the grip assembly now includes, in one embodiment of the assignee of the present invention, a one-piece plastic housing that forms the handle grip, the trigger guard, the butt support, the forepiece support and the housing for the trigger assembly.
The trigger assembly has been improved by providing it with a removable frame that permits the trigger assembly to be easily removed from the grip housing. This prior trigger assembly includes a one-piece plastic frame having an upper spearpoint shaft guide and spaced parallel lower frames that pivotally support both the trigger and a shaft latching bar.
The trigger assembly is also provided with a safety pawl operated by a knob on the outside of the grip housing.
Since these spearguns have remained basically unchanged, performance improvements, although they may appear small, contribute greatly to the popularlity of the speargun in this fascinating, competitive and still somewhat esoteric sport.
In these prior trigger assemblies, the latch bar and the trigger slidably engage one another and are constructed of the same material and after a period of use, the interengaging surfaces become scored causing trigger pull to become erratic which results in a jerking movement of the gun during firing throwing the spear off target.
Another problem in these prior trigger assemblies is that the safety mechanism requires the use of the fisherman's other hand, or more particularly, with the fisherman's left hand on the grip housing handle, he either has to operate the safety release with his right hand or take his left hand off the grip to release it.
It is a primary object of the present invention to ameliorate the problems noted above in spearguns, and particularly speargun trigger assemblies.